Why Modi's Emergency jibe made me think of actor Neelo's protest in Pakistan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking at an event to mark the anniversary of the Emergency, rightly recalled that in order to muzzle any voice of resistance, the Indira Gandhi-led government had banned songs by popular singer and actor Kishore Kumar on the All India Radio (AIR), after he refused to perform at a Congress rally.
Once in power, politicians from the subcontinent tend to behave dictatorially. A leader attacking an artist for criticising a political agenda is not a one-off case. In recent years, we have witnessed calls to boycott films of actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan by prominent leaders of the ruling party. Keep in mind that in Kishore Kumar’s case, neither was there an official boycott nor did Indira herself speak about him.
Kishore went mute
It was the so-called “non-official” Congressmen who had asked for his boycott and there was an unofficial ban on Kishore Kumar for almost a year.
Ruling politicians have not changed their mindset even a bit since the Emergency. What really baffles me is not the behaviour of these politicians but the indifference that the community of filmmakers and artists has displayed for their fellows attacked by the ruling elite. We do not find a single reference of the ban on Kishore Kumar, one of the most popular film personalities in Indian cinema, in popular films of the day.
Besides some academic books discussing the Emergency period and a few politically motivated speeches, it is hard to find any mention of this particular event in popular culture. The same goes for the more recent political attacks on Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and others.
In contrast, at least one event in neighbouring Pakistan is worth recalling — when the whole film fraternity came out in support of an actress against the government of the day. Neelo was a popular film actress in Pakistan during the 1960s. Born into a Catholic family as Cynthia Alexander Fernandes, she adopted the screen name “Neelo” in 1956, and by 1965, she was the most popular actress in her country.
On February 11, 1965, she was called by then governor of Pakistan, and a close aide of president Ayub Khan, Amir Mohammad Khan to perform at a dinner being hosted for Iranian autocrat Shah Reza Pahlavi. A socialist herself, Neelo considered it against her principles to dance at the private parties of autocrats, and hence declined the request.
As expected, it infuriated the governor and the police was sent to arrest her. Neelo was forcibly brought to the party to perform. Humiliated and enraged, she took an overdose of sleeping pills. As soon as the police instructed her to dance, she fell on the floor — unconscious. It took the doctors days to treat the actress successfully.
Apart from Neelo’s courageous defiance in the face of tyrants ruling Pakistan, her fraternity’s spirited and united response to the incident was heartening.
Filmmakers across Pakistan called for a one-day strike in the actress’ support.
Habib Jalib, a popular Marxist progressive poet who also used to write for films, rushed to the hospital to visit her. While on his way, he wrote a very powerful poem titled “Neelo” in dissent. It reads thus:
- tū ki nā-vāqif-e-ādāb-e-shahanshāhī thī
- raqs zanjīr pahan kar bhī kiyā jaatā hai
- tujh ko inkār kī jur.at jo huī to kyūñkar
- sāya-e-shāh meñ is tarah jiyā jaatā hai
- (You are unaware of the tenets of imperialism!
- You can also dance in fetters
- How dare you refused to dance
- You don’t live like this under a king’s rule…)
- ahl-e-sarvat kī ye tajvīz hai sarkash laḌkī
- tujh ko darbār meñ koḌoñ se nachāyā jaa.e
- nāchte nāchte ho jaa.e jo paa.el ḳhāmosh
- phir na tā-zīst tujhe hosh meñ laayā jaa.e
- (O rebellious girl, the rich have ordered that
- You should be made to dance on the tune of lashes
- And when your anklets are silenced during the dance
- You should not be brought back to your senses…)
- log is manzar-e-jāñkāh ko jab dekheñge
- aur baḌh jā.egā kuchh satvat-e-shāhī kā jalāl
- tere anjām se har shaḳhs ko ibrat hogī
- sar uThāne kā re.āyā ko na aa.egā ḳhayāl
- (Upon witnessing this cruelty, among people,
- The dignity of the King will increase
- Each person will take lessons from it
- the public will not dare raise their heads…)
- tab-e-shāhāna pe jo log girāñ hote haiñ
- haañ unheñ zahr bharā jaam diyā jaatā hai
- tū ki nā-vāqif-e-ādāb-e-shahanshāhī thī
- raqs zanjīr pahan kar bhī kiyā jaatā hai
- (People who dare challenge the royal order,
- They are made to consume poison,
- You are unaware of the tenets of imperialism!
- You can also dance in fetters…)
Another monumental tribute was to come. In the year 1969, the film Zarqa, penned and directed by another progressive writer, Riaz Shahid, was released. It was based on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his group Fatah’s resistance against Israel and Neelo, the lead actress, playing a Palestinian girl.
In order to immortalise her struggle against the tyrannical government of Ayub Khan, Shahid included Jalib’s poem as a song in the film. Its picturisation was completely inspired by real-life events. In the film, Neelo — as the Palestinian girl — is made to dance in a sequence that shows her being chained and tortured.
As she screams, gripped by pain, one of her comrades, played by Ejaz Durrani, begins singing the “protest” song.
It was sung by the legendary Mehdi Hassan and Rashid Attre composed music for it. A slight change was made to the opening lines of the song.
Instead of
- tū ki nā-vāqif-e-ādāb-e-shahanshāhī thī
- raqs zanjīr pahan kar bhī kiyā jaatā hai
the lyrics read,
- Too Ke Nawaqif-i-Aadab-i-Ghulami Hai Abhi
- Raqs Zanjeer Pehen Kar Bhee Kiya Jata Hai!
- (You are unaware of the tenets of slavery
- You can also dance in fetters!)
Zarqa is a landmark because the film portrays the plight of not only Palestinians but also the public. It was a fitting reply to the tyrant rulers of Pakistan from its artists — that they would not bow down to dictators.
I wonder why we have no such voice of resistance coming from artists in our own country.